


A Different Light

by Lolsnake9



Category: Green Lantern (Comics), Green Lantern - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Headcanon, also implied Halsin because I can't help myself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:09:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24323326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lolsnake9/pseuds/Lolsnake9
Summary: Yellow was Hal's favorite color.
Kudos: 12





	A Different Light

**Author's Note:**

> Two months of no posting and I come up with this because quarantine and college has fucked me harder than coronavirus ever will
> 
> enjoy

While it isn’t something he always tells everyone, and may come as a complete surprise nowadays, Hal used to love the color yellow as a kid.

He absolutely adored anything yellow. He could remember the first toy he had ever loved being a rubber ducky that he would always insist on bringing with himself during bath times. Later on he would want yellow toy cars, yellow shoes, yellow teddy bears, almost everything he wanted to be in yellow. He remembered one of the best birthdays he ever had being his eighth one where his father bought him a yellow model airplane which Hal was practically inseparable from (when one of its wings broke when Hal was 11 he locked himself in his room and cried for hours). 

As Hal grew older he tended to look back on the his younger self's obsession with the color to the point of shame and embarrassment. But he still liked it. He sometimes would indulge in buying some useless little trinkets and novelty items just because they were yellow. He particularly liked to wear yellow shirts, which sometimes did appear tacky especially considering his line of work but he didn’t care.

There was the way the color had caught his attention. It was a bright, warm color which caught Hal’s eye the way no other colors did. There was this radiant warmth the color emits which reminded him of the sun rays he liked to soak himself in as he laid down on the lush green grass.

Hal would lay his eyes on and admire anything yellow, which was abundant in his surroundings. I particular he had developed a preference for blondes, drawn by their shimmering golden locks. 

But more of all things, the warmth of the sun on still remained on his skin. The radiant, yellow sunlight that he sometimes felt he could touch whenever he soared high up in the sky.

One day, he stepped upon the fallen ship of Abin Sur and received the ring that would change his life forever. He became Green Lantern, the protectors of order in the galaxy, chosen for his ability to overcome great fear. Then, he also met Sinestro, the great Green Lantern who would later become his mentor and close friend.

When he learned about the ‘yellow impurity’ which caused the Green Lantern ring to be ineffective against the color yellow he had almost chuckled at the sheer ridiculousness and irony of it. But it’s not like it changed anything regarding his feelings for the color. It was just duty, after all (despite all the remarks his fellow Corpsmen had made regarding the matter).

Besides, he can finally fly high into space, among the stars he had always dreamed of touching, exploring previously unseen worlds. And just like before, he would still be drawn by the mesmerizing beauty of all the exotic planets and aliens.

All the while he slowly started to get drawn to his alien mentor Sinestro, whom he had initially disliked due to their clashing personalities. They had had a lot of arguments and bickering, but over time, grew to respect each other.

Manyt hings drew Hal to Sinestro, one of which being his mesmerizing golden irises. The piercing, alluring gaze of which Hal would never forget.

But nothing wonderful lasted forever.

When he discovered Sinestro’s great crime, he was forced to expel his dear friend out of the Corps. 

As way of Sinestro's revenge, the fear monster Parallax found its way to him, latching onto Hal’s soul, turning him into a manic supervillain bent on remaking the universe in his own will.

Hal was given a second chance, but the damage has already been done. The fear entity had left its _taint_ on him, a growing wound that will never go away easily. At nights, he could still remember the sheer sensation of _fear_ gripping his entire being, of seeing nothing but the sickening glow of _yellow_.

Not only that, his former beloved friend and mentor Sinestro had also chosen the color yellow to represent his Corps opposing the Green Lantern Corps, utilizing fear against will.

What was once something Hal could comfort in has now twisted into a symbol of evil, of everything he had sworn to stand up and fight against for as long as he lived.

A symbol of betrayal of an old friend.

A symbol of his own _weakness_.

A perversion of everything he had once held dear.

The now-sickening color can only remind Hal of the life, reputation, the _self_ robbed off of him by the parasite.

And yet, sometimes….when Hal is off-duty from being Green Lantern, going about his life on Earth like a normal person, taking his mind off of space….sometimes.

Just sometimes, he could briefly forget about all of that.

He would look inside the closet in his apartment, and see the worn-out yellow shirt he used to frequently wear.

And then, he would take it and wear it. Maybe go outside with it, prompting quite a few friends to crack jokes or compliment him on it, which Hal would force himself to laugh along and accept in stride. Though, sometimes, he wasn’t sure how much of it was ‘forced’.

Later, perhaps, when he’s alone, he would sit back, relax…and think back on the past.

Reflecting on the good, while ignoring the bad. The past which wasn’t _easier_ , not necessarily, but much…simpler.

Back when he was just a pilot reaching for the skies.

Back when he just had to focus on arresting the bad guys.

Back when Sinestro was with him.

Back when yellow was just a color.

**Author's Note:**

> Well first off I hope yall doing alright because I certainly am not :) like I said college and quarantine is fucking me immensely to the point of not even have energy to do bare minimum things anymore 
> 
> Still at least I'm able to get this little piece out to at least try to get me back into my usual writing flow again, even if only a little bit
> 
> And lastly, I got the idea of this off of a bunch of funny/cute fanarts of superheroes that show them being sad or whatever, and one of them is Hal revealing that he actually likes yellow. So I thought that's kind of a funny headcanon right, so then I got the idea of this fic which is about that except it kinda steers into kind of a depressing territory (which has subtle because....me) because that's kind all that I can do. lol
> 
> Anyways I'm just hoping I'll be able to get back to writing regularly again (provided college doesn't fuck me harder since finals are coming up)
> 
> Thanks a lot for reading!


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